<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>funny, how royals ruin everything by pxlarity</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23664259">funny, how royals ruin everything</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxlarity/pseuds/pxlarity'>pxlarity</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Football RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Bad things keep happening to Rafa, Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, M/M, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:02:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,781</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23664259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxlarity/pseuds/pxlarity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A day after his third birthday, Rafa was left at his friend’s house and his parents disappeared immediately after. Fifteen years later, right on his eighteenth birthday, someone from the kingdom is sent to get him.</p><p>Subsequently, his life turns upside down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rafael "Rafinha" Alcântara/Marc-André ter Stegen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rafa has lived with Neymar for as long as he can remember.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To be fair, that’s not quite true. He still has the slightest memories of his parents. Of all the times he would waddle towards his mother, who was more often than not at the kitchen, cooking something that smelled like heaven. Or, of all the times his father would take him out to the town as he told him stories about his adventures. Their family seemed as normal as any other. Until one day, just a day after Rafa’s third birthday, his parents left him at his friend, Neymar’s, place and never came back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still remembers how he frowned at his mother’s words. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’ll just be a while sweetheart,” she said as she kissed Rafa's forehead. As she touched him for the last time before walking away.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But neither she nor his father ever came back for him. No matter how long Rafa waited, how many birthdays passed, they never came back. For the first few days, weeks, Rafa would look out of the window of the bedroom he shared with Neymar, searching for any sign of his parents’ arrival. It was harrowing for a three year old Rafa, to not be with his parents for even a day. The first few days Rafa didn’t stop crying and asking for his mom. It felt so, so lonely. Months passed and he started doubting that they'll ever come back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Years later, Rafa has stopped hoping for them to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s happy enough with Neymar’s family, the family that he calls his own now. His mother, who wants to be strict with them, but can never resist their puppy eyes. His father, who teaches them to do all the things that Rafa used to hope his real father would; how to fish, how to fight with a sword, and much more. Then there’s Neymar and Rafaella, who has become not only his siblings, but also his closest friends (as if they weren’t already when he was three). Despite his parents being missing from the picture, Rafa is content with living like this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's grateful that he at least still has a place to call home, people to call family.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soon, he's going to turn eighteen. Fifteen years has passed since his parents left him. He has spent most of his childhood and adolescent years without them and now, he’s going to reach adulthood without them. And truthfully, as much as he hates to admit it, their absence has left a gaping hole in his heart. Rafa doesn't know what he wants to be. He has no real aspirations, no dreams, not even something he truly is passionate about. He's sure that as a kid he had dreams and aspirations, but now they're just a distant memory. What he knows for sure is that he wants to pay back his family, the one who's taken care of him since he was three. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father is a blacksmith and his mother is a midwife. Both of them are exceptional at their jobs and the people of the village often rely on them. His mother even helped his birth-mother give birth to him all those years ago. That was why their families were so close in the first place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, when he looks around, Rafa can't find any job that might suit him. He doesn't want to be a farmer, a carpenter, or a merchant. Doesn't want to own a shop, be a blacksmith, or a trader. Sometimes he thinks he wants to be a knight, but perhaps that's just because Neymar wants that. And Rafa just tends to follow Neymar. Although their village is one of the few in the land that isn't a part of any kingdom, it's not uncommon for the young men from the village to go to the surrounding kingdoms to become soldiers, knights, or even generals.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though he enjoys a good sword fight, Rafa has never been keen of violence and bloodshed. So since he's going to be a full fledged adult soon, he's decided that he might try being a physician for a living. It's something he quite enjoys, as he found out when he was fourteen and he started an apprenticeship with a visiting physician. It was just curiosity at first, but it's continued on to this day. Although he enjoys it to some extent, it still doesn't feel right. It feels as if his calling is for something else. But what he feels doesn't matter. There might come a day where he will find what his calling is, but for now, he just wants to get a job and repay his family's kindness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's been training with the old physician (who eventually decided to stay in the village permanently) and reading the old man's manuscripts and books leading up to his birthday. He has already planned to start actually working after he turns eighteen. Rafa might even take the place of the old physician and let him retire, or he can venture to a nearby town or village and settle there if they need a physician. Neither sounds too bad. From what he's done so far, he thinks he's not going to hate it, but he's not going to be terribly fond of it either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, far too many people underestimate the courage it takes to be a physician. The things physicians encounter are truly not for the faint of heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re seriously insane Rafa. Even someone as fearless as me wouldn’t want to see things like that everyday,” Neymar once said when he took a peek into one of Rafa’s books.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Neymar's still training as rigorously as he always has ever since they were kids. And Rafa will never admit it out loud to him, but he's a natural. Neymar is an unbelievably good swordsman and there's no doubt that any kingdom will accept him as a part of their army. Anyone would be able to make use of his agility, technique, and impeccable swordsmanship. Rafa will never tell him that because Neymar doesn't need to have his ego stroked when he's already the way he is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As for Rafaella, she plans to take over the family business, to be a blacksmith, which is… uncommon amongst women, to say the least. But she's determined and she doesn't care what other people think. She’s always been (amazingly enough) the most stubborn one between the three children anyway. Rafa's sure she'll be able to do it. After all, she does learn from their father, the best blacksmith around. When people witness her impeccable craftsmanship, Rafa knows any doubt over her choice of profession would certainly dissipate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, all of their lives are going just as planned. It’s almost exactly like the way they thought it would be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Rafa eats dinner that night, he thinks to himself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>it would be nice if things could be like this forever.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked it! Comments would be greatly appreciated :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. yet another eventful birthday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Birthdays make Rafa feel more depressed than excited. This year, he doesn't even know what to feel about it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rafa wakes up the next morning earlier than he usually does. And the only reason he remembers that it's his birthday is because he has just woken up to his entire family grinning at him. Also, there’s a simple cake in his mother's hands.</p><p>They give him well wishes and they eat the cake together. It becomes a bit messy as a food fight ensues when Rafa gets sick of Neymar throwing crumbs at him. Their mother scolds them for wasting the delicious cake she made and after a few more crumbs fall to the floor, they finally stop. Rafa and Neymar exchange playful glares, both noting that the battle has yet to be finished. The whole cake is gone before they know it and everyone goes back to their daily routine.</p><p>The sun has yet to reach the top of their heads when Rafa and Neymar head to a nearby lake.</p><p>It's small and truthfully, not so pretty, but Rafa likes it anyway. He, Neymar, and Rafaella have been here way too often for it to be even remotely exciting. Especially because the place has hardly changed over fifteen years. When they get there, Rafa climbs on a small mount near the lake. The added height makes the wind feel much stronger. It’s almost as if the wind’s going to blow Rafa away. Sometimes, like now, Rafa wants it to.</p><p>He doesn’t know <em> where </em>he wants to be blown away, he just doesn’t want to be here. Doesn’t want to exist.</p><p>There are people who love him, people who care about him, but he still feels… unwanted. Like he’s a nuisance. Like everyone will eventually leave him. Neymar always tells him that it’s not his fault that his parents left, yet it still feels like he’s the one who’s done something wrong. Rafa closes his eyes, feels the wind move around him, and wonders what it’s like to feel whole again. To feel wanted, truly and fully so. </p><p>He wants to have dreams like the ones he had as a kid instead of nightmares about being left alone in the dark.</p><p>“It’s your birthday Rafa,” Neymar says, breaking his train of thought. He's throwing small rocks into the lake, trying to make them go as far as he can. “Don’t you want to do anything?”</p><p>“No,” Rafa says, looking into the distance. “It’s just another day, isn’t it?”</p><p>Neymar looks at his friend, his brother, with concern that hasn't lessened over the years, despite Rafa being like this everytime his birthday comes around. “If you say so.”</p><p>They return home when the sun starts shining too brightly for their liking and the air becomes humid. The day is as normal as it can ever be. Rafaella is helping their father in the forge. His mother is cooking something for lunch. Neymar is outside, practicing his swordsmanship with an overused dummy who has faced way too much abuse over the years. And Rafa is in his room, reading a book about medicine on his desk. Not the most exciting activity, he has to admit, but something necessary to complete his apprenticeship. He’s on a page about medicinal plants when Neymar’s words earlier that day come back to him.</p><p>
  <em> It’s your birthday Rafa, don’t you want to do anything? </em>
</p><p>Rafa wonders why exactly he’s always so… depressed whenever his birthday comes around. A snide voice in his head answers it for him. <em> Because for you, it’s not the anniversary of your birth, but the anniversary of your parents abandoning you. </em></p><p>Rafa ignores the voice and flips another page of the book.</p><p>-</p><p>Neymar is walking into the house, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, when he sees a group of people crowding the dining room.</p><p>They don't look familiar at all, in fact they look like they're trying to not be recognised considering the eerie hoods. It’s an odd scene, really. On one side of their dining table is his mother, sitting quietly on one of the chairs. There’s also a fancy looking parchment on the table, a letter. On the other side, the hooded men are standing, their comparatively large figures looming over the room.</p><p>“Mom? What’s this?” Neymar asks, his grip tightening around the sword that's still in his hand.</p><p>“Who are these people?”His mother looks at him with a forced smile. “They-they’re from the kingdom. They need to talk to Rafa.”</p><p>“Rafa? Why?”</p><p>Neymar's tone is defensive and agitated, but the suspicious group of people, probably knights in disguise, couldn't seem to care less. His mother looks increasingly worried, perhaps because she knows of Neymar's temper.</p><p>“Ney, just listen to them, please.”</p><p>The knights are conversing in low whispers without paying attention to Neymar and his mother. They start walking towards Rafa's room and Neymar wants to run towards them to make them stop. But his mother catches his wrist just as he’s about to reach them. He doesn't try to shake her off, but he yells at the knights. “Hey! You can’t just do that! Explain!”</p><p>“We’re not obliged to,” one of the knights replies coldly, barely even sparing him a look. “It’s best for you to stay out of this, kid.”</p><p>The way these strangers, who just barged into his house, talk to him is angering Neymar. He grits his teeth and releases his wrist from his mother's grip in one swift motion. Then he places himself in between the knights and the hallway that leads to Rafa's room.</p><p>“No! What are you going to do to Rafa? What do you want from him?”</p><p>“Ney, please,” his mother pleads, “just let them through.”</p><p>The knights look at him like he's <em> nothing. </em>They continue to step forward and as he is about to charge at them, he feels arms wrapping around him to stop his movement. He turns around and finds Rafaella restraining him. Neymar doesn’t even know how or when she got there. It’s like she just appeared out of thin air.</p><p>“Don't do anything foolish Ney, you know you can't face them. You'll just get all of us killed,” she whispers softly.</p><p>Neymar doesn't struggle because he knows it's true. So as Rafaella pulls him away from the hallway, he yells at the group marching towards Rafa's room, “If you do anything to him-” He breaks himself out of his sister’s arms and continues to yell helplessly at them, “-I will kill all of you! Rafa has done nothing!”</p><p>-</p><p>Rafa looks up from his book when he hears the noise outside. It sounds like Neymar's yelling.</p><p>The sound ceases quickly, but now it's replaced by eerie footsteps. Loud and coordinated. It clearly belongs to more than one person. Rafa looks towards the door, his heart beating faster and faster by the second. He puts the book down and stands up from his chair carefully. The footsteps get louder and his gaze strays towards the sword beside his bed. He notes to himself that the weapon is there. And if anything rash is about to happen, he can defend himself to some extent. Suddenly it's quiet, like the footsteps have stopped. More likely than not in font of his door. Rafa doesn't want to make any loud and sudden sounds, so he tries to be as quiet as possible, hoping that whoever is outside thinks that he's defenseless.</p><p>As he slowly walks towards the side of his bed and reaches for the sword, he dares himself to speak. “Ney? What’s with all the noise outside? What are you and Rafaela… up… to?” </p><p>By the end of the sentence, the door has already opened, revealing a group of people clad in armor under their hoods.</p><p>“Who are you people?” Rafa says as he lowers his sword, knowing well that he wouldn't be able to stand his ground against them.</p><p>The guy in front, seemingly the leader, speaks in a monotone voice. “We’ve been sent by the Kingdom of Paraiba.”</p><p>“What for?”</p><p>And Rafa tries really hard to think about what he could've done in his life that caught the attention of a far away kingdom. Their little village isn't even within the authority of that kingdom anyway. Even if he had done something wrong, they aren't supposed to be the one who comes and finds him.</p><p>“We’ve come to fulfill the queen’s last wish,” the leader says, gaze sharp and unyielding.</p><p>Rafa looks back at him, confused out of his mind. “What does that have to do with me?”</p><p>“Her last wish is to see her son,” the leader says again, as if that explains anything.</p><p>“Okay, so what-”</p><p>His words slip away from him when the realization sets in. The leader of the suspicious group is clearly economical with his words, but suddenly the few words mean a lot more than they sound. <em> The queen's last wish is to see her son. </em>And now these men, knights from the kingdom, are here, talking to him of all people. That can only mean that- it's hard to connect the dots even when it's so clear.</p><p>“If you’re from the kingdom,” Rafa starts, “do I even have a say in this?”</p><p>The tall, large, leader of the group just looks at him, not saying a word. It's a silent threat, he knows. </p><p>“I’m guessing the fact that you’re not answering means no, so…” Rafa's throat feels dry when he says it and there's almost something akin to a laughter bubbling up in his chest. Because this is beyond insane, because his life is a joke. The only reason he holds back the laugh is because he fears that these knights won't take so kindly to him laughing at their queen’s dying wish.</p><p>“Take me to my mother I guess.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the short chapter, it felt right to end it there though. The chapters from now on will probably (?) be longer. Hopefully you liked this! And feedback is always welcome :D</p><p>Sidenote: the name of the kingdom (Parabia) is taken from the birth place of Rafa's actual dad.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>